Debt-Free Mill Oversight

Committee Responsibilities

The 2024 Debt-Free Mill Levy Oversight Committee is charged with becoming familiar with the 2024 Debt-Free Mill Levy program. It is responsible for monitoring the progress of the implementation of this program, including ensuring that expenditures are in alignment with the ballot language approved by voters. This committee is composed of members of the community, parents/guardians of current PSD students, principals, representatives of the employee associations and staff.

The 2024 Debt-Free Mill Levy Oversight Committee is not a decision-making entity and does not make recommendations about specific projects to be funded by this mill levy. Instead, the committee is responsible for reviewing the district’s plans for use of this funding and information provided by the district specific to the cost and completion of these projects.

May 11, 2026 Committee Update

On May 11, 2026, members of the Debt Free Mill Levy Oversight Committee convened. This committee is responsible for monitoring the progress of the implementation of the Debt Free Mill Levy program and ensuring that expenditures are in alignment with the ballot language approved by voters. During the meeting, the community co-chair of the committee asked the group to review each element of the Debt Free Mill Levy ballot language, which includes funding for deferred maintenance and to which qualifying expenses have been applied to offset the district’s general fund, making general fund funding available for providing financial support to small, neighborhood schools; for curricular materials and related replacement cycles (i.e. for art, music, physical education, career and technical education, etc.); and for salaries to recruit and retain high quality staff. The question posed to the group was whether the district has met the intent of the ballot measure as related to each of these items.

The group was asked to put forward any questions that are outstanding to be answered. The questions included curiosities about how small, neighborhood school support is being applied and how it is evolving. To address this question, a summary of the Student-Based Budgets (SBB) of each school was reviewed. In the student-based budgets for the 2026-27 school, size factor funding support has been removed from all elementary schools with more than 400 students and middle schools with more than 700 students. This, combined with the anticipated decline in enrollment of 654 students for the 2026-27 school year, resulted in an $8.2 million reduction to school budgets across PSD. Elementary schools with less than 400 students and middle schools with less than 700 students are still receiving size factor support through student-based budgeting. In addition, the Debt Free Mill Levy Override made $4 million available to support small, neighborhood schools. This funding is being applied to support the smallest of PSD schools by ensuring that they can provide the minimum level of staffing and programming required to support students and provide safe learning environments.

During the conversation of support for small, neighborhood schools, it was noted that some 100% choice schools within PSD are receiving funding support because they are small schools. The district noted that conversations have been held around providing small school support to choice schools. In these conversations, it has been noted that these schools did not have the option to be created as neighborhood schools and they all serve our PSD neighborhood students. It was also noted that many of these schools were also created to compete with charter schools in our region as a means of retaining students in PSD. Therefore, it is the district’s belief that they should receive financial support as small schools if their size qualifies them for this support.

As conversation of support for small, neighborhood schools continued in the meeting, it was noted that, at present, the district is providing approximately $8.4 million in support for small schools in PSD. $4 million of this funding comes from the Debt Free Mill Levy Override, as designated by the voters. And, an additional $4.4 million comes from the district’s general fund. Of this $8.4 million in support for small schools, approximately $5.5 million goes to neighborhood schools.

As discussion continued, it was noted that the district may need to revisit size factor funding for middle-high schools in the future as this multi-level model is unique within student-based budgeting. It was also noted that, should schools be closed and/or consolidated in the future, the district may need to revisit how the small, neighborhood school funding ($4 million in the Debt Free Mill Levy Override) is allocated.

Members of the group also noted that they would like the word “neighborhood” to appear more frequently in communications associated with the Debt Free Mill Levy Override.

The group inquired about the timeline for developing the Debt Free Mill Levy ballot language and how that intersected with the district’s long range planning effort. It was noted that the initial conversations about closure/consolidation of PSD schools began in 2023. The language for the Debt Free Mill Levy was drafted in 2024 and the measure passed in November 2024. The district received funding from the measure in 2025. Members of the committee noted that Board of Education directors discussed a three to five year timeline for pausing closure/consolidation of schools during the initial closure conversations in 2023 and 2024. As PSD’s student population has continued to decline at a more rapid rate than initially projected, more district schools are falling below the small school thresholds (i.e. 400 students at elementary and 700 students at middle school). This means that the funding available in the mill levy to support small schools is already insufficient to cover the total financial need to ensure these schools are operating with staffing and program minimums. It was also noted that while there is an intersection between the work of this committee and the Comprehensive Planning Committee, it is not the charge of the Debt Free Mill Levy Oversight committee to discuss possible timing of potential closures and/or consolidations.

As the group transitioned to discussions of other aspects of the Debt Free Mill Levy program, questions were raised about how funding has been used to support the purchase of curricular materials and for replacement cycles for things like musical instruments, athletics equipment, and materials for career and technical education and curriculum. $2.5 million is available for these purchases each year. In the last year, $1.5 million of this funding has been spent to purchase textbooks and $1 million has been allocated across the visual arts, career and technical education, physical education and health, and music. A group of PSD staff members is responsible for evaluating needs in this area and making determinations about the use of this funding each year.

The group discussed the aspect of the ballot language that made funding available in the general fund to support increases to staff salaries for the purposes of recruiting and retaining high quality staff. The group inquired about retention rates across classified, licensed, and administrative staff. Increases have been observed among all groups. From the 2023-24 school year to the 2024-25 school year, administrator retention was 77.22%, classified retention was 76%, and licensed staff retention was 89%. From the 2024-25 school year to the 2025-26 school year, all of these rates improved with administrator retention rising to 87%, classified staff retention rising to 79%, and licensed staff retention rising to 92%.

In the context of retention, the group also asked about staff reductions for the next school year. It was noted that, primarily because of reductions to student-based budgeting,138 classified staff and 113 licensed staff have been reduced. Additional reductions to administrative/professional staff, classified, and licensed staff are being made at the central office, where approximately $2.5 million in additional cuts are being made.

The group also inquired about the status of deferred maintenance and capital improvements funded by the Debt Free Mill Levy. The district noted that several summer projects are slated for completion this summer. It was also noted that if the district did not have the mill levy override to support these needs, the district would be in a very difficult financial position. It was suggested during this discussion that there appears to be a disconnect between schools receiving funding for deferred maintenance projects and the work of the Comprehensive Planning Committee. The district noted that no decisions about closure and/or consolidation of schools have been made and it is important for the district to continue maintaining its building assets. It was also noted that should school buildings become available in the future, it is important that the property be kept up because such facilities may be repurposed to serve district needs or may be sold or leased to other entities, in which case it is important that good building conditions be maintained to retain building value. The group asked about the sewage issue that occurred at Poudre Community Academy. The district indicated that the issue has been resolved. It was also noted by members of the group that Timnath Elementary School does not meet current ADA standards, though it met relevant standards at the time of its construction and renovation. The district acknowledged that to bring Timnath into compliance with current ADA standards, it would require installing an elevator, which would come at significant cost.

A member of the group asked for information about zero-based budgets and how these are created. Zero-based budgets are budgets that are built from the ground up, meaning that they are built to meet the minimum requirements of these small schools to operate. There is no funding formula that can be applied to determine these budgets. It was also noted that staffing and program needs are very different in schools that serve K-5 as compared to those that serve K-12 and zero-based budgeting helps to address these differences.

Regarding supporting salaries for staff, a member of the group asked if the $49 million approved for the Debt Free Mill Levy increases by inflation. It was noted that it does and that this inflationary increase must be dedicated to deferred maintenance needs in accordance with the requirements of Debt Free Mill Levies in Colorado. It was also noted that the district anticipates needing this inflationary increase to cover inflationary costs associated with deferred maintenance in the future, citing the example that the cost of a boiler now will increase in future years.

To close the meeting, the co-chair asked for a motion specific to whether the district has successfully executed the Debt Free Mill Levy Override program in alignment with the ballot language. A member moved that the district is successfully executing the program in alignment with the ballot language approved by the voters for the 2025-26 and 2026-27 school years. This motion was seconded by another member of the committee. 12 members voted in favor and one voted in opposition. The member voting opposed noted that the rationale for this vote was a concern about more emphasis needing to be placed on support specifically for neighborhood schools and that the funding allocated to support salaries to retain staff is of concern moving into next year.

The community co-chair indicated to the group that they will present the annual report, including this motion and its outcome, to the Board of Education at its June 9, 2026 meeting.

February 2026 Committee Update

On February 4, 2026, the 2024 Debt Free Mill Levy Oversight Committee met. The committee, which is charged with monitoring the progress of the implementation of the Debt Free mill levy program and ensuring that expenditures are in alignment with the ballot language approved by voters, heard updates from staff on Summer 2025 and Summer 2026 construction as well as on the student-based budgeting (SBB) formula used in the district.

During this conversation, the Operations team shared data specific to change orders made in Summer 2025 projects. Change orders were primarily the result of the accelerated timeline on which Summer 2025 projects had to be planned and completed. Additionally, significant scope changes were made to planned projects at O’Dea and Beattie Elementary Schools to add the installation of air conditioning in these buildings. As the district plans for Summer 202 projects, it is not anticipated that there will be substantive change orders because there is more time to carefully plan and execute on these projects.

In addition to reviewing Summer 2025 projects, an update on planned construction for Summer 2026 was also provided. The district shared its construction dashboard, which is being used to track progress on solicitations, contracting, and permitting for all planned summer projects. Two of the larger planned projects for Summer 2026 are the installation of air conditioning at Lesher and Webber Middle Schools. Air conditioning installation is being prioritized at these sites because of their size and the number of students they serve. Completing the installation of air conditioning at Webber and Lesher will require two summers. In Summer 2026, air conditioning will be installed in classroom areas and in Summer 2027, it will be installed in common areas. In addition to these projects, several other deferred maintenance projects will be completed in twenty one of the district’s school buildings. These projects include roof replacements, flooring replacements, boiler replacements, ADA upgrades, video scoreboard installation, and fire alarm as well as emergency generator work.

During the committee’s meeting, the PSD Finance team also shared information about changes impacting the district’s student-based budgeting formula, which is used to allocate funding to schools on a per pupil basis. The amount of funding being allocated to schools for the next school year (2026-27) is being impacted by the decline in student enrollment. It is anticipated, as of January 2026, that student enrollment will decline by approximately 654 students district-wide next year. Additionally, in alignment with the values stated by the Board of Education, the district will no longer provide size factor support to elementary schools with more than 400 students and middle schools with more than 700 students. High schools do not receive a size factor. With this change, small schools will continue to receive size factor funding from the mill levy to ensure they have the minimum amount of funding necessary to operate.

At the meeting, several questions were shared specific to change orders, Summer 2026 construction, and Student-Based Budgeting. These questions and answers are as follows:

Is there a process for documenting contractor/architect performance?
- Yes, we take this into account for future purchasing. In the procurement process specifically, there is consideration of vendor performance.
What are AIA contracts?
- AIA contracts are a standard form of contract typically used in smaller systems to manage construction. PSD no longer uses AIA contracts because they are more favorable to design professionals and builders than to the district. Instead, PSD uses contracts developed by its external legal counsel that favor the district.
Have staffing changes impacted any of the projects?
- Yes. We reassigned veteran project managers to summer projects after other project managers left the district.
Is there a specific contract percentage that is specifically dedicated to addressing change orders?
- The district is planning for the possibility of cost changes due to change orders collectively across all mill projects.
How is priority assigned to projects? How do we get kids in school by installing air conditioning in more locations?
- The Board has indicated that installing air conditioning is a priority. So, the district first looks at size of building and number of students impacted to determine where AC may be installed first. Then, structural constraints in the building are considered and priorities are determined from there. There are also life-safety issues that are prioritized too. For example, there was a culinary classroom with mold in its cabinets. It was not originally planned to be upgraded this summer, but must be to address the safety hazard. It should also be noted that there are other systems, outside of air conditioning, that can result in a building being shut down. For example, if a boiler fails in winter, it can result in not being able to have school. Therefore, the district tries to prioritize maintaining these critical systems in the summers to avoid such shut downs due to equipment failure.
Is the district pausing on the completion of any projects given that there is a possibility of closing schools?
- No. At the moment, the assumption is that the district will retain all of its buildings and therefore must continue to maintain and complete work in them even if schools were to be consolidated or closed.
When the district is doing roof replacements, is consideration given to ensuring the class of material used is durable? Is solar being explored?
- Yes. PSD’s internal maintenance experts provide input on materials to be used in replacements. Additionally, when contracting with experts to complete replacements, the district is collaborating with these experts to ensure that all code requirements are met. Regarding solar, the district is using the solar feasibility study to determine whether roofs or other spaces are candidates for solar installation. The district’s priority, though, is on completing deferred maintenance and installing air conditioning at this point.
Does the district work with principals to determine what is needed in their buildings?
- Yes. The district’s Operations teams makes maintenance recommendations based on the condition of systems in the buildings. They then work with principals to determine if other priorities need to be addressed first. For example, at one school, Operations had initially planned to replace flooring but had a conversation with the principal about completing roof repairs instead due to more pressing needs associated with roof leaks.
What processes are used to select contractors?
- The district uses a variety of different processes including bids, solicitations, requests for proposals, etc. depending on the needs and cost of the project.
What is a typical timeline for contracting?
- Timelines can vary, but this can be a three to four month long process. This is particularly the case when negotiating with vendors as this can take considerable time.
Do principals have autonomy over how to allocate SBB to staffing in their building?
- Yes. Principals determine how to allocate funding within their building. There are guidelines in place around how funds are used (i.e. for mental health staffing) and they work with the assistant superintendents to determine final staffing allocations.
Why are we still talking about school consolidation when the mill was supposed to prevent this discussion from being needed for three to four years?
- We are almost in year three already. However, the primary reason for revisiting the consolidation conversation is the drastic acceleration in the number of small schools in the system and the cost acceleration that is required to operate these small schools.

Prior to this meeting of the oversight committee, committee members also shared questions that were answered by staff. These questions and answers can be found here.

The Debt Free Mill Levy Oversight Committee will meet again in the spring and will present an overview of its work to the Board of Education at the June 9, 2026 Board Meeting.

November 2025 Committee Update

On November 13, 2025, the 2024 Debt Free Mill Levy Oversight Committee met for the second time. The committee is charged with becoming familiar with the 2024 Debt Free Mill Levy program. It is responsible for monitoring the progress of the implementation of this program, including ensuring that expenditures are in alignment with the ballot language approved by voters. This committee is composed of members of the community, families of current PSD students, principals, representatives of the employee associations, and staff.

At its first meeting, the committee was asked to identify a co-chair. The co-chair is responsible for coordinating with district staff on committee meeting agendas and presentations to the Board of Education. Jeff Lindquist was selected via lottery from among those who volunteered to serve as co-chair.

During this meeting, PSD staff shared a summary update with committee members on current spending of the funding collected from the mill levy, including updates on projects completed during the summer of 2025 and projects planned for summer 2026. As a point of reference, prior to the passage of the 2024 Debt Free Mill Levy Override, the district created a summary of benefits that each school would receive if the mill passed, including a list of facilities projects. These projects are already underway.

Additionally, PSD staff shared an overview of the allocations made to support small schools for the 2025-26 school year. To best understand this spreadsheet, please see the following definitions/explanations:

SBB Locations: SBB (student-based budgeting) schools are those that receive funding based on the number of students enrolled.
ZBB Locations Overview: ZBB (zero-based budgeting) means zero-based budgeting. This formula is applied to schools wherein the student-based budgeting formula is insufficient to support their operations.
The “FY26 Preliminary Count” column in this spreadsheet is the student count on which the budget for the school was determined for the current school year.
“FY26 Size Factor above FY25” column indicates the amount of additional funding on top of the FY25 size factor that was added for FY26. It does not indicate the total dollar amount allocated to each school in the size factor.
“FY26 4A Size Support” column indicates the amount of additional funding from the Debt Free Mill Levy that was added to ensure these schools could operate at minimum staffing/services levels.
“FY26 4A SBB AP Support” column indicates the amount of funding provided to schools to pay for assistant principals. Allocating this from the mill budget allows schools to use their SBB funding for licensed and classified staffing instead of using it for APs.

As this update was shared with the committee, there were several questions on a range of topics. These include:

How does the size factor apply to comprehensive high schools and why is it different for Timnath and Wellington Middle High Schools?
- The comprehensive high schools do not receive size factor funding because they have a sufficient number of students to fund fixed costs with their student-based budgeting budget. TMHS and WMHS receive a size factor based on the size of their middle school cohort only.
How is the size factor calculated?
- When schools have higher student enrollment, their student-based budget is sufficient to cover the fixed costs that are required to operate the school. For smaller schools, because they have fewer students, their student-based budget is insufficient to cover required fixed costs. With fewer students, it is also more difficult to provide specials programming (i.e. music, art, physical education) and other services. The size factor calculation is designed to help address this shortfall.
How was the small schools support formula determined and will the formula potentially change in the future? If so, who will be involved in revising the formula? Is there a role for this committee in that work?
- A focus group of staff was convened to develop model staffing plans for schools to identify the enrollment points at which efficiencies in size are lost. These metrics were used to develop the small schools formula. It is possible that this formula will be revisited in the future. The district’s budget committee will likely be involved in this work. Reviewing and revising the small schools formula is outside the scope of the mill levy oversight committee. This committee is specifically dedicated to monitoring how funding from the 2024 Debt Free Mill Levy is being spent and its alignment to the ballot language that was approved by voters. It is not a decision making committee.
What is the frequency with which air conditioning will be installed in schools? How can the cadence of installation be accelerated as much as possible?
- The district is planning to install air conditioning in schools as quickly as possible within the eight week window that is available every summer for this work to be completed. For smaller buildings, air conditioning installation may be completed in a single summer. For larger buildings, it will take at least two summers to complete installations. To accelerate installation, we are following a design/build process. This process allows design phases and building phases to be staggered so that projects can be executed more efficiently.
How is the district prioritizing schools for air conditioning installation?
- The district is considering three primary factors prioritizing schools for air conditioning. Those that have no mechanical cooling are being prioritized for installation first. It is also prioritizing schools with larger student populations and schools with higher internal temperature readings inside the structure on high heat days. For more information about the district’s approach to installing air conditioning, please view the air conditioning update presented to the Board of Education on October 21, 2025.
Why were Beattie and O’Dea chosen for air conditioning installation first?
- The district was scheduled to complete repairs on the rooftop units at each of these schools in the summer of 2025. It was determined that replacement of the rooftop units could be paired with the installation of air conditioning in a cost effective and efficient way. Therefore, the decision was made to install air conditioning at both schools.
Is PSD required to take the lowest bid for construction projects or is quality of construction also considered?
- No. The district is using a design/build process to select and collaborate with contractors to achieve the best price as well as the best quality for these projects.

Looking forward, the committee will meet again in January 2026 to continue exploring the data that was provided to the group at this meeting. The committee also indicated that it is interested in learning more about the work of the Comprehensive Planning Committee. The committee also requested additional data on expenditures from the mill. These will be shared at the next meeting.

The committee will present an overview of its work to the Board once a year. The next update of the committee to the board is currently scheduled for June 9, 2026.

March 2025 Committee Update

On March 25, 2025, the 2024 Debt-Free Mill Levy Oversight Committee met for the first time. PSD staff shared an update with committee members on current plans for spending funding collected from the mill levy. The information shared with the committee was also presented to the Board of Education in February 2025. View the Mill Levy Spending Update - February 11, 2025 >>

As this update was shared with the committee, several topics for further exploration were identified. These include:

Exploring the alignment of ballot language around “small, neighborhood schools” to the plans for allocation of small schools funding from this mill levy to PSD schools.
Exploring the intersection of this committee’s work with the work of the Comprehensive Planning Committee, which will begin meeting in April 2025.
Monitoring possible future funding cuts at the state and federal level and the ways in which these changes might impact the use of PSD’s general fund and other available funding sources.

Committee members were also asked to volunteer to serve in the co-chair role. The co-chair is responsible for coordinating with district staff on committee meeting agendas and presentations to the Board of Education. A co-chair will be selected via lottery from among those who volunteered. The committee is also working toward scheduling its first update to the Board of Education. It will present an overview of its work to the Board once a year. It is anticipated that this update will appear on the Board of Education agenda on either May 27 or June 10, 2025.

Going forward, the committee will meet twice a year, unless otherwise determined by committee members. The next meeting will be scheduled in the Fall of 2025.

Committee Members

This committee consists of 20 people, serving two-year terms.

Appointed committee members (nine) include:

Chief of Staff: Lauren Hooten
Chief Financial Officer: Dave Montoya
Lead Assistant Superintendent: Traci Gile
Two representatives from PEA identified by the President of PEA: Nicole Alvarado and Pam Davidson
Two representatives from ACE identified by the President of ACE: Brad Randall and Judy Kinner
Two representatives from PASE identified by the President of PASE: Josh Richey and Deborah Meyer

Members selected by lottery (11 members) include:

Four principals (one elementary, one middle school, one high school, and one alternative or K-12 school) to serve as advisors: Starr Hill (K-12/Alternative); Hayden Camp (Elementary); Carey Christensen (High School). Note: No middle school representative applied.
Four parent/guardians with students currently enrolled in PSD schools: Tory Pappas, Jeffry Lindquist, Rebecca Everette, TBD
Three community members who reside within district boundaries: Darby Remley, Michelle Finchum, Margot Duque

There may not be more than one representative of any given school seated on the committee, either as an appointed or lottery-selected member. If the lottery generates multiple representatives from a single school, the lottery will continue to be run using submitted applications to ensure a diversity of school representatives.

Applications to serve on the committee were posted on the PSD website, social media and distributed via PSD Now in January 2025. Selection of membership will be completed in early 2025 and the committee will begin meeting in spring 2025 as well. The committee will meet, at a minimum, twice a year and more frequently if deemed necessary by members of the committee. The committee will also provide one annual update on their work to the PSD Board of Education during the Board’s public meetings.